Contact



T. B. RIDER.

CONTACT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, 1918. I

1,348,052. Pat ted uly 27, 1920.

WITNESSES: I IN l/EN TOR AT OR/V Y' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS n. RIDER, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AssIGNon or ONE-HALF TO ADOLPHE DANZIGER, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CONTACT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented uly 27, 192( Application filed February 9, 1918. Serial No. 216,236.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. RIDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, county ofLos Angeles, and State of California, have invented a new and useful Contact, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to contacts for .closing the circuit for single lamps or for small groups of lamps.

The main object of this invention is to reduce the unnecessary use of lamps.

Another object is to cut out lamps automatically by the main switch in a building or on each floor in larger buildings allowing the use of the individual contacts for closing the circuit again as soon as the main switch is closed thereby keeping all other lamps, not turned on again after the main switch is closed again, out out from the circuit.

Another object is to provide a relay for closing and keeping the contact in closed position as long as no switch in the main circuit is opened.

Other objects will appear from the following description and appended claim as well as from which I Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional View of my contact inserted into a circuit, in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a similar View of the contact in opened position.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1, 4 designates the wires of the main circuit and 5 and 6 the connections for a shunt or branch circuit, only one such branch being shown connected to the main circuit, but it will easily be understood that any number of branches or control circuits may be connected. It being furthermore illustrated that my contact controls a series of lamps in such branch circuits but it will also easily be understood that a contact of my construction maybe used to control each lamp separately. A coil 7 is connected at 8 with the wire 5 of the branch and at 9 with the core 10 of the relay. The wire 6 of the branch line is connected to a block 11, and the continuation 12 of the wire 6is connected to a second block 13 thereby leaving a gap in the second wire of the branch,be-

the accompanying drawing, in

ing between the two blocks 11 and 13, the terminations of the wire 6 and the continuation 12. The blocks 11 and 13 are embodied in the body of my contact 14. The body, therefore, naturally is of insulating material. A stem or tumbler 15 is slidingly disposed in the body 14 for filling thegap between the blocks 11 and 13 when so shifted. The spider or turning stem 16 is turnably mounted between the lugs 20 on the body 14 having three arms 17, 18 and 19, but, of course, any suitable number of arms may be provided. The stem or tumbler 15 is provided with a slot 21 allowing the arms 17, 18 and 19 to engage with the tumbler when so turned.

In Fig. 2, the tumbler is in'the disengaged'position, the open position of the contact, the slot 21 being in a position ready to allow the arm 17 to swing into position to shift the tumbler to the positionrillustrated in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, the arm 18 is shownin a position just out of theslot 21 and the arm 17 nearly in contact with the lower end ofthe tumbler preventing the spider from turning farther.

Turning the spider in the direction to bring the arm 17 into the slot from the position in Fig. 2, and by a further turning of the spider, the tumbler 15 is shifted to the position illustrated in Fig. 1, when the arm 17 naturally comes to the position in which the arm'18 is shown, out of the slot.

21 and disengaged from the tumbler 15. In this position, the tumbler 15 comes into touch with the stem 10 of the relay thereby closing the circuit between the main wires, wire 6, block 11, tumbler 15, stem 10, coil 7, and wire 5 back to the main wires 4. At the same time, the circuit for the lamps is also closed through the main wires 4, wire 6, block 11, tumbler 15, block 13, wire 12, lamps 22, and wire 5 back to the main wires 4.

The coil 7, naturally is made to have a similar resistance as is produced in the lamps so as not to form a short-circuit between the wires 5 and 6.

Having this relay inserted, the tumbler 15 will naturally be held in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 as long as electric current is allowed to pass throughthe coil in the manner set forth above, and the circuit through the lamps will naturally be formed in the manner described above just as long. But by opening a switch 23 in the main line, the circuit through the coil 7 is naturally interrupted, and, even if interrupted for a short time only, the tumbler is allowed and caused to fall down to its starting position illustrated in Fig. 2, thereby interrupting the circuit through any and all lamps inserted into the same branch with that coil.

Closing the switch 23 in the main line does not bring back the tumbler 15 to its closing position, but, having the switch closed, the circuit for the lamps can easily be closed again by turning the spider in the manner described above.

lit the main switch 23, which may be the main switch in the building, factory, public place, or any other place where many lamps are used, is cut out for a moment at a certain hour at night or at or in certain inter *alsduring the time when the lamps are not supposed to burn, all lamps are naturally extinguished when provided with contacts of my construction, but all lamps not provided with my contact will continue to burn as soon as the main switch is thrown in again, as will easily be understood. Such Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a contact in combination with a main circuit and a branch circuit, the contact being inserted in the branch circuit, a housing made of insulation material having an open end, two conducting pieces provided near the open end within the non-conducting material of the housing having connection with one line in the branch circuit forming a gap in that line, a solenoid connected to the other line in the branch circuit opposite the open end of the housing with the core end of the solenoid spaced a suitable distance from the open end of the housing, the second end of the winding of the solenoid being connected to the core thereby forming a gap in the circuit of the solenoid between the two lines in the branch circuit, and an operating member shiltably disposed in the housing adapted for closing the gap in the first named line of the branch circuit and for closing the gap in the solenoid circuit when so operated, the operating member being of suitable material so as to be held in such closing position by the solenoid when so operated.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS B. RIDER.

Witnesses EARLE G. CLARKE, J. H. RYCKMAN. 

